


Responsibility and Restitution

by Denois



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Adam "Holster" Birkholtz - Freeform, B "Shitty" Knight, Critical, Eric "Bitty" Bittle - Freeform, Fix-It, Jack Zimmermann - Freeform, Justin "Ransom" Oluransi - Freeform, Larissa "Lardo" Duan - Freeform, M/M, Nursey has the truth and the law on his side, Ollie O'Meara - Freeform, Pacer Wicks - Freeform, Post-Canon Fix-It, getting together but that's kind of a secondary plot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-07
Updated: 2020-04-07
Packaged: 2021-03-02 00:02:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23525824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Denois/pseuds/Denois
Summary: Dex is voted in as captain of the Samwell Men's Hockey team. His happiness is short lived as he learns that members of the team he'd trusted had been lying to him, and the rest of the team, for years.Nursey is his father's son, no matter his feelings on that, but at least he can use that to make sure things are put right.The trust that was lost might never be repaired, but restitution can still be made.
Relationships: Derek "Nursey" Nurse & William "Dex" Poindexter, Derek "Nursey" Nurse/William "Dex" Poindexter
Comments: 14
Kudos: 125





	Responsibility and Restitution

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING**  
> This fic is critical of canon. It's critical of the previous captains of SMH, including Bitty. It is a fix-it to reconcile various parts of canon, word of god, and how things work. Because of how the Haus situation was presented in canon and by word of god, things don't add up. Don't read this fic if you don't want to read about some members of the SMH team being imperfect and screwing over their teammates. 
> 
> Also, this fic contains spoilers for 4.23.

“With all but one of the votes, your 2017-2018 Samwell Men’s Hockey team captain is William Poindexter.”

Dex was stunned; it didn’t feel real. There was no way that everyone on the team had voted for him. It would mean that Nursey had voted for him. And Whiskey, and the guys who never hung out with the rest of the team. It didn’t seem possible, so the simplest explanation was that it wasn’t possible.

Ollie and Wicks pushed him out of his chair and made him go up to accept the etched glass block that proclaimed him the captain. He wasn’t sure what he said in his speech. He wasn’t sure what else happened during the banquet. All he could think about was Coach Hall saying that everyone on the team except one voted for him. 

Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time that he’d questioned if the votes had been rigged somehow, but it didn’t make sense to do that and bring up one vote for someone else. When the banquet ended, he was still staring at the etched glass in shock at the fact it had his name. The other Frogs crowded around him to congratulate him, Nursey throwing an arm around his shoulders and pressing in tight and Chowder not leaving much more distance between them on his other side.

“Nursey, you voted for me? I voted for Whiskey.” Somehow, more than the guys that never hung out with the team, more than Whiskey and his ambition, the fact that Nursey trusted him to captain the team seemed both the least likely and the most significant.

“You’re the most brainwashed of us all, Dex, of course I voted for you.” 

Dex didn’t even have to look to know that Nursey was winking at him; he was using his chirp-flirt voice. 

“I love this stupid team.” He wasn’t surprised to realize that he meant it. 

He hadn’t expected to, when he was choosing a college. He hadn’t expected to really fit in, a public school kid from a blue collar family who worked three jobs to be able to play hockey at all in a group of prep school graduates whose parents could buy them all the ice time they desired. And in some ways, he hadn’t. He knew that most of them still didn’t really get what his life was like, but it didn’t matter. He probably didn’t really get their life either. But Dex had followed Jack Zimmermann in the Q, and he knew the rumors then, and he’d been told on the tour how accepting Samwell was, and well, he’d thought that maybe, just maybe, it would have a team that wasn’t a dumpster fire like his high school team. 

But the reality was that he loved the team. He loved the Tadpoles and the Waffles. He loved Chowder and Nursey, his best friends. He loved knowing that any of them would back him up on something if he really needed it, even if they didn’t understand why, and that they felt like they could ask him for the same. 

If he wasn’t careful, he was going to cry. So instead, he wrapped his arms around Nursey and Chowder and hugged them back.

Until Coach Murray asked him to go back to Faber to sign some forms related to being the new captain.

* * *

Nursey was loath to admit that it had taken him an embarrassingly long time to realize that Dex wasn’t emotionally constipated or repressed. He knew his emotions and what they meant, he just didn’t show them. He might have been naturally reserved, but the way he acted, there was a big addition of fear of repercussions of being open about himself and his feelings. Which, Nursey could understand being trapped by acceptable emotions; it’s not like he was ever actually chill. 

Unfortunately, Nursey didn’t work all this out nearly as quickly as Dex worked out the fact that his chill was fake. It had taken Dex moving out before Nursey’d realized that pushing Dex to show emotions would just push him away. 

Which was all to say, Nursey regretted it the moment the words left his mouth as he chirped Dex about being voted captain. 

“You’re the most brainwashed of us all, Dex, of course I voted for you.” Delivered with a wink.

He knew how he meant it. But how could he verbalize the fact that Dex was the hardest worker, the most dedicated, and probably the one willing to put in complete effort into what amounted to unpaid work? He didn’t even have to guess that Dex would give it full attention because Dex had been performing unpaid labor for the team for three years by the time it came to this vote. 

Luckily, Dex seemed to understand.

“I love this stupid team.” 

And then Dex hugged him back like he never wanted to let go. Which was pretty great, because Nursey never wanted him to let go. 

Unfortunately, the coaches eventually took Dex away to go sign some forms or something, leaving Nursey and Chowder with the rest of the team. But that was okay because they had two missions that required the team and not Dex. 

“We hella need to celebrate Dex as captain.” 

“Ch’yeah. But it’s gotta be something chill. He hates kegsters.”

“Yeah. Especially if the focus is on him.” 

An idea was forming in Nursey’s mind. A way to complete both missions at once. A way to celebrate Dex and verify that there hadn’t been any ballot tampering.

“We could record each member of the team saying why they voted for him. Why they think he’ll be a good captain.”

“Swawesome! And we can order takeout and have a Frog Night!” 

“Ch’yeah. I think he’d like that.” Nursey grinned at Chowder and pulled out his phone so that they could start recording.

* * *

Getting the main floor of the Haus to themselves was actually pretty easy. Bitty disappeared somewhere with Jack and Ollie and Wicks disappeared into the attic without even having to be asked. It was easy to get everything set up and be ready when Dex returned. Too easy.

Dex walked in the Haus and barely gave them a glance before disappearing down the stairs to the basement. 

Nursey didn’t bother looking at Chowder to see what he thought, just stood up and followed Dex down. Chowder’s footsteps sounded behind him on the stairs.

By the time they made it to the basement, Dex was half obscured by the water heater as he took an old wire bristle brush to the team bylaws written there. He paused and dunked the brush into a bucket of soapy water before scrubbing again.

“Dex?”

“It’s all fake. Everything’s a lie. Nothing is real. I should have known.” Dex gave a hollow laugh and then scrubbed at the wall even harder.

Nursey glanced at Chowder to see if he had any idea what Dex was talking about, but Chowder just shrugged.

“What should you have known?”

“Nothing I love is real.” Dex paused and turned to look at Nursey briefly. “No. Not that. Everything I love gets taken away.” He seemed to consider for a moment then nodded and turned back to the wall. 

Nursey couldn’t tell that the scrubbing had made any difference on the words. He focused on trying to discern if they were fading under Dex’s scrubbing because if he didn’t focus on that, he’d start to think about why Dex had looked at him and then reworded his statement. And if he thought about that, he’d get distracted by hope.

“Um, did something happen with the coaches? I thought you just had to sign some forms?” Chowder’s voice helped keep him focused.

The scrape of the brush slowed and then Dex dropped his hand, letting the brush fall into the bucket. It splashed water on his jeans, but he didn’t seem to notice. 

“If they tried to take away the captaincy from you, we’ll fight it. Everyone voted for you. Everyone but you.” 

Because of course Dex wouldn’t have voted for himself. He was the only one who couldn’t see how good he’d be at it. How good he’d been at it, considering he’d basically been acting as captain off the ice already while Bitty was too busy wrapped up in himself and his relationship to pay attention to the team. The coaches had to know that, too. There’s no way they’d try to remove Dex as captain.

“No. I’m still captain. It’s just….” He trailed off and gestured towards the bylaws.

“The bylaws?” Nursey raised an eyebrow. He wasn’t following.

“Ayuh. They’re a bunch of lies. Everything is….” He trailed off again with a sigh. “Do you know who owns the Haus?”

Nursey glanced at Chowder again, getting a frown and shrug in response. “No. But it’s chill. Bitty said that Shitty has the lease somewhere. I can ask him for it.”

“There is no lease, Nurse. Samwell owns the Haus. The hockey team, as part of Samwell University, bought it in 2003.”

“Oh-kay.” He drew out the word, trying to work out what connections Dex had already made.

“The school, the team, owns the Haus. There is no landlord. There’s no landlord refusing to perform regular maintenance. There’s no landlord collecting rent. There’s no landlord denying repairs of the landlord supplied appliances. It’s all the team.” Dex ran a hand through his hair and finally looked at Nursey and Chowder again. “The forms I had to sign were to make it so that I was authorized to, well, to do a lot of things in the team’s name, but also to pay for maintenance and repairs on the Haus and associated items such as appliances from university accounts. There was no reason for the oven to be dying when we got here. Jack should have purchased a new oven with the university funds. The dryer-” 

He turned and jabbed a finger at the thing he’d fought with for three years to try to keep it working for the team. Then his hand and chin and shoulders all dropped as he seemed to shrink. 

“So, there’s enough in the accounts to replace them all now, right?” Chowder sounded hesitantly hopeful, like maybe just by making the suggestion everything could be put right.

“I’m sure there is, but they’ve been making regular withdrawals like they were getting maintenance on the Haus. Maintenance which hasn’t been done.”

Nursey bit his tongue to keep from saying that it had been, just by Dex. 

“I’m guessing it went the same way rent did. Kegsters and baking. How much does it cost to throw a kegster for hundreds of people? How many did Shitty and Holster and Ransom throw?” 

Nursey didn’t remember making the decision, but he stepped close to Dex and wrapped him in a hug. They were joined a fraction of a second later by Chowder. 

“So, the bylaws are out. I can buy some paint tomorrow and we’ll cover them up.” Nursey wasn’t sure if it was a useful thing to say. Dex might get upset about him offering to buy things again. But the scrubbing wasn’t working and honestly, Nursey didn’t really want them there anymore either.

“We can help you come up with new ones, if you want.” Chowder’s voice was muffled because he’d pressed his entire face against Dex’s back and didn’t seem inclined to move for things like talking.

“Thanks guys. I wanted to rework the fine system anyway, I guess.” 

“And we can add rules about unacceptable chirps.”

“Yeah! We’ll make it hella swawesome for everybody.”

“Thanks guys.” The tiniest smile flitted at the corner of Dex’s mouth, but it was enough to call it a win.

“I don’t know if you’re hungry, but we got some takeout to celebrate you being captain and it’s probably getting cold. If you want to start figuring the new bylaws, we can do that while we eat, or just veg out and watch a movie.”

“Yeah. That sounds great. Let’s watch a movie. I think I want to forget about this whole mess for tonight. We can start fixing it tomorrow. Starting with no more rent for living in the Haus.”

Chowder peeled away from them a bit. “Oh! I’ll go get drinks ready, then.” 

Nursey pulled away as well and waited until he was sure Chowder was out of earshot.

“Go on up. I’ll be there in a minute. Wanna change out of these pants and dump the water.”

“Ch’yeah. I will.” He swallowed hard to set his courage. “We don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want, but for what it’s worth, you aren’t going to lose me. Nothing’s going to take me away.” 

He didn’t wait for a response before climbing the stairs to make sure their orders were divided up correctly.

* * *

It took a few weeks to get the information that Nursey needed, but that was just as well. It was a conversation better had after graduation. He scheduled the meeting at Haus 2.0. His father’s lawyers would probably have preferred it be at a neutral location, but three of the people he wanted to talk to lived there and it was easier to get the other two to meet up there than at some other location that he could be sure would provide sufficient privacy. 

Once they were all gathered in the den at Haus 2.0, Nursey passed out the presentation folders that he’d prepared.

“What’s this? Did you call us here for help with your thesis?” Bitty barely glanced at the folder before looking up at him with a smile. 

“No. I’m actually capable of handling my own thesis and I still have time to do so. What this is, is evidence. Bank statements, withdrawal requests, and general accounting of every deduction that you four, as the most recent past captains of the Samwell Men’s Hockey team made from their accounts for the intended purpose of maintaining the Haus, it’s appliances, and grounds.” 

Shitty was looking through the packet very carefully, as expected. Lardo was frowning at hers. 

“There’s also evidence that rent has been collected from the residents of the Haus, along with the SMH deed to the Haus and the register of which residents held a full scholarship which covered room and board and were therefore exempt from paying any sort of housing or rent while living in Samwell University provided housing. Followed by the SMH codes indicating that there should be no rent for residents regardless of their scholarship status.”

He paused for breath and tried to make sure he remembered everything he’d planned to say before turning to Lardo. “As far as I can tell, you were not party to these actions, but you were charged rent while you lived there, and I thought you should know given your current living situation.”

“No. I didn’t know.” Lardo’s voice was low, but it couldn’t be called soft.

“Shitty, you were not a captain of the team, but I believe that there is sufficient evidence from your actions and testimony regarding your throwing of kegsters that you were privy to, or even complicit in the embezzlement of funds and fraud committed while Jack was captain.”

Finally, he turned to Holster, Ransom, Jack, and Bitty. “You four are pretty much red handed. As an 2L, I’m sure Shitty has grasped the severity of the shit you are in. Particularly Shitty himself, if he wants to pass his character and fitness examination. But if you want to contact an _actual_ lawyer, that’s chill. It might be smart, for a change.”

“Now, see here, young man! I am your-”

“You are my nothing. You aren’t even my captain. Dex is my captain as voted for by everyone except himself because unlike some people, he wouldn’t even consider voting for himself. And unlike some people, I am certain he actually won the vote.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Bitty was glaring and looked like he was considering inflicting physical harm if not for Jack holding onto his hips. This was probably why the lawyers recommended a neutral location.

“It means, this isn’t the first time I voted for Dex, but apparently, it’s the first time my vote for him counted.” Nursey took a deep breath. “Look, embezzlement from the university is criminal larceny. Taking rent when you guys shouldn’t have is fraud, for which we could sue you approximately into oblivion. I’ve talked to the lawyers my dad has on retainer about the possibility of filing civil suit. But it’s chill. I don’t want you to go to prison or have to pay fines or punative damages. I just want you to pay back the people who lived in the Haus, and to pay back what you embezzled so that actual repairs to the Haus can be made.” 

He paused. “Oh, and to pay Dex for all the work you got him to do for you for free by lying about the landlord refusing to perform basic maintenance and there not being money for new appliances while you were spending it on kegsters and baking. That would be chill.”

He pulled out some cards from his pocket and started passing them out. “My dad’s lawyers in Boston and in Providence. I’m willing to take the L on the rent I paid you. I know some of you can afford repayment easier than others. Figure it out amongst yourselves. Contact those lawyers with your payments or guarantee of payment by the end of next month. If they don’t hear from you by then, I’ll file suit and notify the Norfolk County District Attorney of the embezzlement. I’m sure the college would also have some things to say upon hearing about this.” 

Nursey held it together until he was out of the house, six stunned silent faces watching him leave. He did not collapse on the sidewalk, but it was a near thing. He made it to a coffee shop where he could collapse into a booth in a socially acceptable manner. There was a reason he wasn’t following in his father’s footsteps and going into business. He hated acting like that. But they’d stolen from his teammates, his _friends_. How could he say that he had the team’s backs if he didn’t actually step up when he had the resources to do so?

He snapped a quick picture of his mug and sent it to Dex with a caption.

> Almost as good as yours

* * *

“Welcome to the Samwell Men’s Hockey team, Spawn. We all come from different teams: high school, club, juniors. What they all have in common is a shit culture that will make you think it’s ok to say some shit. It’s not ok. SMH is different. We are better. Things won’t fly here that might have been fine, or even encouraged, on your old teams. At Samwell, when we say ‘Got your back’, we mean it. Homophobic, racist, misogynistic, ableist, transphobic, fatphobic chirps? Are a fine.” Dex looked over the new crop of freshmen. 

The rest of the team was there, too, and that was important because the bylaws had been completely reworked by the Frogs over the summer. He’d sent out information to them all, but they needed to hear it, too. Unfortunately, he had to be the one to give the speech about it.

“I understand that it’s probably habit at this point. That’s why it’s a fine. At first. If you don’t break the habit. If there is a pattern of slurs being used in your chirps, I will bench you and you will be banned from the Haus. If it continues, I will talk to the coaches about removing you from the team. We are better than that. If you need help thinking of chirps that are cutting and don’t fall into those groups, Nurse and Tango have volunteered to workshop those with anyone who asks.”

“Chill. If all else fails, there’s always Shakespeare.” Nursey grinned at the group.

“Speaking of chirps. It’s a time honored tradition to chirp your teammates off the ice. These are our teammates so the chirps should be in good faith. Every member can place any topic into their personal No-Chirp List and anyone that chirps someone about something on that list will be fined. Speaking of fines. Fines can be paid in money or sweat.” He paused again with a quick glance at Nursey and Chowder who both gave him supportive smiles.

“The full, revised bylaws are in your welcome packet. They cover everything from putting away your dirty gear after practice - seriously guys make sure your towels and shit are in the hampers for the staff - to respecting each other’s personal property, to fineable PDA - fines start when clothes come off or it goes past PG. If you have questions or concerns, come to me, go to Nursey, Chowder, or Ford. For now, we’ve got conditioning to do.”

The team was filing out of the dressing room, led by Chowder and Ford and Dex watched them pass. Old faces and new, everything changing but staying the same, too.

“Hey, Nurse?”

Nursey paused before following the other guys out of the room. “Yo?”

“A messenger delivered an envelope with some cashiers checks this morning. When I looked up who it was from, it was your dad’s lawyers.”

Nursey had the decency to look contrite. “Chill. Should have thought about the fact that their name would be on it.”

“I don’t-” He stopped himself with a small sigh. “I’m not interested in your money, Nurse.”

“I know, Dexy. But that’s not my money. Ch’yeah, it’s from my dad’s lawyers, but if you look at the checks it should say ‘settlement.’” He rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to come to a decision. “Look, after graduation, I took the info you had about Jack and Rans and Holtz and Bitty and stuff to my dad’s lawyers to make sure it was the case I thought it was. Then I just kinda, told them that they’d committed fraud on the rent and embezzlement on the team funds and they needed to pay everyone back, including the team funds or I’d file a civil suit on the fraud and turn over the evidence of the embezzlement and they could fight it in court.” He lifted a shoulder. “It’s chill. Ollie and Wicky, Chowder, Lardo, they should all be getting checks, too.”

Dex blinked at Nursey incredulously. “Do you know how much they sent me?”

“I mean, I know how much rent was, and I had the bank records for what they took there. So, I know how much it should be, yeah. Or approximately, depending on if they paid you for the work you did and how they estimated that labor. Jack and Shitty can afford it. They also owed Ransom and Holster money, so that probably covered most of what those two owed.” He shrugged like it was inconsequential. “I told them to work out how they covered it, but like, Jack is a millionaire in his own right and Shitty’s trust fund would cover what was owed. So, it’s not really hurting them to make things right.”

“I can replace the washer and dryer. Maybe even the furnace.” His mind was running through what repairs were top priority and needed to be completed before it got cold. 

“You can pay someone else to do that, even. Unless they just wouldn’t live up to Dexly standards. It’s a very high bar.” Nursey knocked their shoulders together.

“I can pay…. Yeah. I can.” He pressed back against Nursey’s shoulder and they started walking towards the weight room together. The image of the other checks popped into his mind. Payment for the work he’d done before. Repayment of the rent he’d paid. He should save it. He should put it away for necessities.

“I talked to Louis and we’ve started a kegster fund. Other people can contribute if they want. Also, in the spirit of full disclosure, the rest of the Haus residents and I started a grocery fund jar so that we can all contribute as able.”

Maybe he didn’t need to save quite _all_ of the money. He’d never asked because there was no point, it would never work out. But he still remembered Nursey stopping, after he told them about the whole situation, after he’d realized that he’d paid extra to stay in the Haus and be with a team that was screwing him over. Maybe it was finally time to talk about it. Maybe Nursey was right. Maybe he wouldn’t lose Nursey.

“Do you want to go out? Tonight? With me? On a date?”

Nursey reached out for the door to the weight room before turning and giving him a dazzling smile. “Ch’yeah. That would be chill. I’d like that, Poindexter.”


End file.
